---
# System prepended metadata

title: Acquire Micromanager

---

---
autogenerated: true
title: Acquire
description: Acquire dual-camera adapter
redirect from: /wiki/Acquire
layout: page
---

<table>
<tr>
<td><p>Summary:</p></td>
<td><p>Micro-manager adapter for the <a href=https://github.com/acquire-project>Acquire Project</a> module. Combines two cameras into a single multi-channel micro-manager camera. Supports streaming to Zarr file format.<br />
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p>Author</p></td>
<td><p>Chan Zuckerberg Initiative</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p>Maintainers</p></td>
<td><p>Nenad Amodaj</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p>License:</p></td>
<td><p>BSD</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p>Platforms:</p></td>
<td><p>Windows</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p>Devices:</p></td>
<td><p>Hamamatsu DCAM, Spinnaker compatible cameras</p></td>
</tr>
</table>

------------------------------------------------------------------------

## Installation

### Step 1: install Micro-manager

Install the latest release of Micro-manager. After installation navigate to the installation directory and look for mmgr_dal_Acquire.dll file. If it is there, proceed to Step 2. If it is not there, download and install the latest nightly build of Micro-manager.

### Step 2: download Acquire drivers

Acquire module requires additional driver dlls available on the Acquire project site on GitHub:

[acquire-driver-common.dll](https://github.com/acquire-project/acquire-driver-common/releases/tag/v0.1.5)

[acquire-driver-zarr.dll](https://github.com/acquire-project/acquire-driver-zarr/releases/tag/v0.1.4) for streaming to Zarr

[acquire-driver-hdcam.dll](https://github.com/acquire-project/acquire-driver-hdcam/releases/tag/v0.1.6) for Hamamatsu camera support

Download win64 zip packages for each driver, extract each dll and copy them into the Micro-manager installation directory, where all other device adapters and drivers reside. Additional camera drivers may be available on the [Acquire Project](https://github.com/acquire-project) GitHub page.

## Configuration

Acquire adapter can be configured using the standard procedure in Hardware Configuration Wizard. The Acquire library will be listed as "Acquire" in the device library tree and it will contain a camera adapter.

Adding this camera dapter to the configuration will open a prompt to choose camera devices: "Camera1" and "Camera2". Acquire camera adapter supports running two physical cameras simulataneously and provides a "multi-channel" camera interface to Micro-manager. That means that two physical cameras will act as one and the images from two cameras will appear as simultaneous "channels" in the Micro-manager GUI and saved files.

We can also choose to configure only a single camera, in which case the adapter will behave a regular micro-manager camera.

### Dual-camera mode

Click on the Camera1 "value" column and select a device from the dropdown. The dropdown will show all currently available devices. Some of them are "simulated" (demo) cameras which can be used for testing and evaluation. If only simulated cameras are available that means that vendor's native drivers for physical cameras (e.g. "Hamamatsu DCAM") are not installed on the system.

After selecting the device for "Camera1" property, proceed to "Camera2" and do the same.

### Limitations
- In single camera mode, Camera1 has to be set up as the actual camera, while the Camera2 must be None. We can't set up Camera2 as the single camera.
- In dual camera mode, both cameras have to be of the same model.


## Usage notes

The Acquire camera behaves like a regular Micro-manager camera. In single camera configuration it will produce single channel images, while in dual-camera configuration it will produce multi-channel images (each camera in a separate channel).

### Zarr streaming

Streaming images to Zarr file is an unique feature of the Acquire camera adapter. Streaming to file is performed by the device adapter, not by the Micro-manager GUI. Zarr streaming happens in the background, it is completely independent of the GUI and can operate in parallel with any Micro-manager native acquisition.

There are three camera properties related to Zarr streaming:
- "SaveToZarr" acts a switch to turn Zarr streaming on and off
- "SaveRoot" has the same function as the "Directory Root" field in the Multi-D dialog: specifies a directory where Zarr files are going to be stored.
- "SavePrefix" has the same function as the "Name Prefix" field in the Multi-D dialog: specifies the name of the Zarr file

Prior to any acquisition the user specifies the "SaveRoot" and "SavePrefix" properties which will define the path to Zarr files. Whenever the "SaveToZarr" property is turned on the Acquire Adapter will save any images to the specified Zarr file, and when it is turned off, it will stop saving and finalize the dataset. Next time the switch is turned on, a new file will be created based on the Micro-manager convention of prefix-suffix file names.

Acquire camera will never overwrite previously generated files.

#### Typical Zarr streaming workflow
- Set up the acquisition in the Multi-D dialog
- Enter desired values for "SaveRoot" and "SavePrefix" properties for the Acquire camera.
- Turn on Zarr streaming by setting the "SaveToZarr" property to "1"
- Start the acquisition by pressing the "Acquire!" button in the Multi_D dialog.
- Wait until the acquisition is complete and then set "SaveToZarr" property to "0" in order to stop streaming
- Look for the Zarr file in the path specified by "SaveRoot" and "SavePrefix"

Saving to Micro-manager file can be either enabled or disabled in the Multi-D window - it does not have any effect on the Zarr streaming. If it is enabled a Micro-manager dataset will be saved in addition to Zarr.

## Troubleshooting and Support

To report a bug, ask a question or share an idea, post a message to the dedicated [Zulip chat channel](https://acquire-imaging.zulipchat.com/).

## Resources

[Acquire Project Home Page](https://github.com/acquire-project)

